World Baseball Classic news: Salvador Perez gives 30 million reasons why Final is ‘different’
The World Baseball Classic Final is underway! Team Venezuela, one of the powerhouses of this year’s tournament, will be taking on the favorites Team USA in the finale of the triennial tournament. The atmosphere in the loanDepot Arena in Miami, Florida has been electric as fans of both countries come in to cheer for their team.
That being said, one of Team Venezuela’s players caught some flak after some controversial comments following the World Baseball Classic semifinals. Kansas City Royals infielder Maikel Garcia was asked if he felt that the atmosphere in the WBC was different from what he saw in Kansas City. Garcia agreed, which caused some fans to react negatively.
Venezuelan legend and current catcher of Arepa Power, Salvador Perez, elaborated on why the World Baseball Classic Final is different from playing in their home games in Kansas City.
“I love Kansas City, I don’t want people to get me wrong… but when you play for your country, it’s something different,” Perez told Ken Rosenthal before the World Baseball Classic final. “It’s something special. We play for 30 million people.”
After an early exit in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the Venezuelan national team has bounced back this year. They cruised through the group stages with a 3-1 record, setting up a date against Samurai Japan in the quarterfinals. Despite being seen as the underdogs coming into the game, Arepa Power blasted through Japan, knocking out the defending WBC champions in the quarterfinals.
A comeback win over the upstart Italian national team gave the Venezuelans a Finals berth. Garcia was one of the key players in the win, hitting the go-ahead single to give them the lead in the game. Now, Venezuela faces off against Team USA, the team that eliminated them in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
At the time of writing, Venezuela holds a 1-0 lead over Team USA at the bottom of the fourth inning. Garcia’s sacrifice fly in the third inning gave them their lone run of the game so far.
